Unto The Breach
by Xvern
Summary: When Tyler Odom, an American Assault Butei specializing in raids, transfers to the Tokyo Butei Academy, he thought that his hardest challenge would be in overcoming the culture barrier. However, when he accepts a commission to take down a small-time drug smuggler, he finds himself caught in something bigger. Saddle up!


The helicopter flew over Tokyo at a leisurely pace upon the request of it's single passenger. Said passenger was sitting on the edge of the helicopter's floor, his feet dangling over the edge. The door was wide open, letting the wind buffet the interior of the aircraft but allowing the passenger to look out at the lit city, the moon shining bright overhead.

The passenger wore Maroon combat fatigues with black boots and hard-knuckle gloves. Over the uniform he wore a black IOTV, the vests used by the US military, with plates in the front and back. Two six-mag pouches were threaded onto the vest over his stomach, all full of magazines. A trauma pouch was threaded on the vest under his left arm while three pistol clip pouches were between the vest's front flap and the trauma pouch. A drop leg holster held his pistol and another spare clip while his carbine hung from a one-point sling.

The passenger's headset, worn under a black Protech helmet, came alive with a burst of static.

"_You sure about this Odom-san?"_

The passenger chuckled as he glanced at the Butei emblem patch sewn on his left sleeve before looking up at the cockpit where his long-haired pilot directed the flying machine.

"I said to call me Tyler, remember?" he asked in accented Japanese, "And I'm very sure about this. How far out are we?"

"_But-" _A sigh scratched over the channel, _"A minute and twenty out."_

"Roger. And Yoi, thank you," Tyler said as he slipped on a pair of clear-lens safety glasses and buckled his helmet. Reaching up with his left hand, he flicked on his helmet-mounted light, illuminating his lap in an eery red light. Bringing his hand back down, he shined the light on his forearm, where a black panel looked back at him. Though the helicopter overpowered it, Tyler imagined the sound of separating Velcro as he pulled the black panel up to reveal a clear panel with a picture and basic information beneath it.

The picture showed a scarred, angry visage with a short mohawk growling at something off camera. The information on the picture's right identified him simply as "The Serpent", his real name being unknown. Likewise, beside birth date was a bold question mark while his age read "45?". His crimes were listed as drug smuggling and prostitution. Height of approximately 6 feet with brown hair and brown eyes.

Along the very bottom was two words in bold print: "Capture Alive".

"{So you're my first hit, huh?}" Tyler mumbled in English.

"_Thirty seconds," _came Yoi's determined voice.

Closing the flap, Tyler reached up and flicked off the flashlight. After making sure his gloves were tight, he chambered a round into his carbine but left the selector on "Safe". With that done, he carefully stood up and moved the coil of thick rope to the edge before checking that it was securely clipped onto the aircraft above the door.

"_Ten seconds."_

Tyler took a deep breathe, slowly releasing it as he stood with his eyes closed. He held onto a handle to steady himself as he took in another deep breathe before slowly releasing this one as well.

"_Five."_

"I'll see you on the other side, Yoi," he stated.

"_You better mean when I pick you up," _came the irritated reply. Tyler could only smile. He could feel as the helicopter's nose began to raise as Yoi began to decelerate.

"_Two."_

Tyler put his foot next to the rope. The helicopter leveled out over a warehouse in Tokyo's ports.

"_On target!"_

Tyler kicked the rope out. As he gave it time to hit the ground, he glanced at the cockpit, only to see Yoi looking at him with his vibrant green eyes.

"_You better come back alive," _she spoke it so softly that Tyler would've have missed it if it wasn't transmitted directly into his ears. It shocked him still for a full second. As he recovered, a corner of his mouth turned up into a smirk.

"No promises."

Then he leaped for the rope.

**=o=**

"Attention class," began the teacher for 2-C. Immediately, the class ceased all conversation and turned to give the adult their full attention. Seeing this, she continued, "Today, we're getting a foreign transfer student in our class."

A hand shot up.

"Yes?"

The boy lowered his hand as he asked, with no shortage of excitement, "Is it a girl?"

The rest of the boys eagerly leaned forward for the answer while the girls shot daggers at the boy who had asked the question. The teacher simply shook her head with an amused smile,

"No, it's a boy."

The mood of the room nearly did a one-eighty as now most of the girls leaned forward eagerly while the boys began to shoot daggers at the door.

"I'll leave the rest for him to tell," the teacher stated as she waved a hand to the door, "You can come in now Odom-san."

The door slid open, allowing the nervous teenager to walk in and stand at the front of the room. To unpracticed eyes, he would appear collected, but the trained eyes of his fellow Butei picked out his apprehension as if they were placing shapes in their respective slots.

He wore the standard school uniform in accordance with the school's wishes, going so far as to polish his black shoes. His brown hair was cut short with a faded appearance while his face was clean shaven, as evidenced by a small cut on his neck. His hazel eyes darted over his fellow students, assessing.

He then bowed at the waist, "Hello, I'm Odom Ty- {shit}, I mean Tyler Odom," he straightened with a sheepish smile as he rubbed the back of his head, "Sorry, not used to saying my name like that yet. It's a pleasure to be here."

A hand went up. This time from a girl wearing glasses in the front row. Tyler and the teacher shared a glance before the boy turned to the girl, who started to wave her hand.

"Yes?"

She dropped her hand as she stood up, "Hi, I'm Mai Hayashi, the Class Rep. Where are you from?"

"America," Tyler replied.

The class seemingly exploded then as multiple variations of "Really?" sounded throughout the room. As if a puppeteer pulled their strings, several hands shot into the air. Hayashi reclaimed her seat, a satisfied smile on her face.

"Uh," Tyler looked at the teacher, only to see her wave her hand toward the class. Tyler sighed before pointing to a boy sitting farther back, "You, three back and two to my right."

The boy stood, "I'm Nao Kugami. Are you really able to own guns there without being Butei or police?"

Tyler nodded, "Yes. My Dad and me used to go shooting about once a month in a ravine near our home. We also used exploding targets one time. That was fun."

"E-exploding targets?" the boy stuttered.

"Well, yeah. Nothing gets the blood pumping like a good boom, afterall."

Silent, the boy fell onto his seat as the hands once again went up.

"Okay," began the teacher, "we need to get the day moving, so this will be the last question."

Tyler nodded before he pointed to a girl sitting against the wall on the left side of the classroom. She had long black hair and vibrant green eyes that sparkled as she stood up.

"Yoi Nakamura," she said with a slight bow before wringing her hands nervously, "C-can you say it?"

"Say it?" Tyler asked, genuinely confused as the girl grew even more nervous.

"Like from those c-cowboy movies," she clarified.

Tyler couldn't help himself as he chuckled with a large smile on his face, "{Y'all actually like those?}"

Recognizing the first word, Yoi smiled as she looked straight at Tyler, "Odom-san, can you say the other one too? When they word their horses."

"What?" Tyler asked, his head cocked but a knowing smirk on his face.

"I believe," began Hayashi, "what Nakamura-san is looking for is: 'Yeehaw'."

"Yeah!" Yoi replied with an energetic nod.

Tyler sighed. _It's not as if I have anything to lose doing it. And what I have to gain is a happy girl, _he thought to himself as he finally shrugged.

"Why not," he stated before taking in a breath and giving out a loud and long, "{Yeehaw!}"

The class erupted in laughs and smiles while the teacher just shook her head with another amused smile. Yoi, clapping, happily plopped down onto her seat, a smile on her face that reached from ear to ear.

"Alright, Alright," the teacher started, making calming gestures with her hands, "let's calm down and get Odom-san a seat and then we'll continue with class."

Hayashi raised her hand, "The seat behind Yoi should be open, sensei."

The teacher nodded before looking at the seat in question to see that it was, indeed, empty.

"So it is," she looked at Tyler and waved her hand to the seat, "Please take your seat Odom-san."

"Right away, sensei," he replied as he walked down the rows of desks to his new seat, which was the fourth back, behind the still beaming Yoi. Hanging his briefcase from the desk's hook, he sat down and looked up at the board.

Only to blanch at the amount of kanji present upon it.

_Oh boy..._

_**A/N: This is my first story for Aria. As a warning, I've only seen the Anime. So if I get something wrong, I apologize in advance and would appreciate if you calmly point it out. As well, if someone can point me to where I can read the Light Novels, that would be appreciated.**_

_**As you may I have noticed, anything said in {English} will be presented within these symbols: {} as well as in the usual quotations.**_

_**I do hope you enjoyed this first chapter and please leave a review telling me how I can improve.**_


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